Early Years conference 'Exploring Emotional Barriers to Learning'

Following the success of the spring term Neurodiversity conference, the WEYH is really pleased to announce that they will be hosting a follow-on conference in the autumn term. Keynote speeches will investigate the neurology of emotional barriers to learning and emotionally supportive environments. For more information on keynotes and workshops, please click this link: https://www.warwickshireearlyyears.co.uk/event-details/exploring-emotional-barriers-to-learning

They currently have a special Early bird offer of two tickets for £60.00, standard single ticket price is £40 per person.

The event is open to all Early Years Practitioners, Childminders and agencies working alongside settings. 

Having listened to feedback from their last event, the team will be putting on additional staff to manage parking and refreshments and they will also be capping numbers. 

Please book early. 

The WEYH team are available to answer any questions should you require any further information (please see contact information on their website https://www.warwickshireearlyyears.co.uk/contact)

Survey on the wraparound childcare pathfinder scheme

On 15 March 2023, the Chancellor announced a national wraparound childcare pathfinder scheme providing local authorities with funding to set up wraparound provision for primary school aged children from September 2024.

• June 2023 - Wraparound Pathfinder LA 'co-design' working group begins
• January 2024 - LAs receive initial funding for work required in advance of national rollout
• September 2024 - National rollout of the wraparound childcare pathfinder scheme

Book recommendation

The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh.

This touching picture book explores common themes of everyday insecurities, such as moving home, starting a new school and dealing with change, while sensitively demonstrating the importance of friendship. The attractive illustrations use a range of colours and tones to effectively reflect Harpreet's emotions and an afterword about Sikhism explains the significance of patkas in his religion.

Digiduck Stories

A collection of five stories created to help parents and teachers educate children aged 3–7 about online safety, with accompanying teaching activities.

https://www.childnet.com/resources/digiduck-stories/?fbclid=IwAR1yGyKRDL5QaQOPyDEpJwkquLuspR_eSD-I0pnzZVDAMj7MztJF6bxLVJI

Reasonable adjustments for mental health

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel, and behave. 

If an employee has a mental health problem, it's important their employer takes it seriously and with the same care as a physical illness.

Mental health problems can:

* happen suddenly, because of a specific event in someone's life

* build up gradually over time

* be hard to spot because everyone has different signs and signals

* be hidden because many people find it difficult to talk about their mental health

* fluctuate over time which means that an employee's ability to cope with the demands of the job might change

When making reasonable adjustments for mental health it's helpful to remember that:

* every job is different, so what works in one situation might not work in another

* every employee is different, so what works for one employee might not work for another

* mental health fluctuates over time, so what works for an employee now might not work in the future

Employers and employees should work together to agree and review reasonable adjustments over time to make sure that the adjustments work well.

Find out more about supporting mental health at work

Internet Safety

The school holidays are fast approaching and It's highly likely during the holidays, children will be spending more time online, gaming etc so we wanted to signpost you to some useful information for parents and carers to protect their children online.

It can be really difficult for parents and caregivers to know where to start when it comes to the vast array of resources and potential tools to help keep children safe, so we wanted to offer a couple of places to start.

Internet Matters Matters resources and guides

https://www.internetmatters.org/parenta.../broadband-mobile/

https://www.internetmatters.org/.../apple-iphone-and.../

https://www.internetmatters.org/.../android-smartphone/

Age appropriate guidance resources from Internet Matters

https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/

And although the minimum age for most social media accounts is 13, we are very aware that many children have            accounts at a far younger age.

National Online Safety have a vast array of simple one page guides on social media platforms, games and other great advice for parents, these are available here :

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/guides

It's always a great idea to check those settings too!

UK Safer Internet Centre have these simple guides to help with those

https://swgfl.org.uk/resources/checklists/

No matter what age we are, the best way to protect online accounts is to ensure each has a separate passwords, and to ensure you enable #2FA (aka 2SV)

Each platform is different, so we'd advice checking out www.2fa.directory for an easy one stop shop to instructions on "how to"

Warwickshire early years settings recognised for providing high-quality SEND provision

Forty-three early years settings across Warwickshire have been recognised for the high-quality of their support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Warwickshire set to take part in Delivering Better Value in SEND programme

Warwickshire County Council is set to take part in a government programme to drive forward its commitment to improve services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). 

Warwickshire is one of 55 local authorities participating in the Delivering Better Value (DBV) for SEND programme which has been created to identify the highest impact changes that can be made to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, and to optimise the use of finances.  

By participating in the programme, the Council will receive dedicated support from Newton Europe, a transformation and improvement partner, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), the local government accounting standard setter in the UK. They will provide valuable expertise and skills on identifying opportunities for change. In addition, there will be the opportunity to bid for grant funding from the DfE to support the implementation of any proposed changes. 

Throughout the course of the programme, the team will be seeking to engage with local partners to listen to and understand their different perspectives, all of which will collectively inform our development plans. To ensure we have the right balance of experience and areas of expertise, we will be inviting people directly to participate in workshops to look at anonymised real cases in detail, or to take part in focused studies.  

If you are invited to attend one of these activities, we would ask you do your best to do so as your input as an education expert will be invaluable to the process. Others will have an opportunity to get involved through various surveys and drop-in sessions.   

If you have any questions regarding the Delivering Better Value in SEND programme in Warwickshire, please contact sendchange@warwickshire.gov.uk. 

You can find more information on the Delivering Better Value for SEND programme here. 

Senior mental Health Training

It is strongly recommended by the DfE and DoH that all schools and colleges have a Senior Mental Health Lead by 2025.   

If your setting has not accessed the grant to fund the DfE quality assured training, please see Senior Mental Health Training   

To date Education Services and RISE have provided virtual half-termly support network sessions for Mental Health Leads. 

More recently attendance at the support sessions has reduced; we are keen to hear what support you would like us to provide moving forward in the next academic year. 

To help us plan this support, please complete this short survey; it should only take a few minutes to complete.

https://forms.office.com/e/60fSYZT6jY

Last chance to share your experience of the local authority’s mediation and SEND tribunal processes

Warwickshire Virtual School for Children in Care

We have lots of training for our Designated Teachers (DTs) for Children in Care next year.  Please see the attached posters or refer to the website . 

We have developed a range of face to face and remote training throughout the year on a range of topics so that our DTs can access high quality, relevant training. 

The annual training dates are booking up fast, a great way to meet other DTs and work together, we look forward to seeing you at these sessions.  

Safe and well summer guide

Helping our children and young people to stay safe and healthy is a priority for Warwickshire and our schools. To support families over the summer months the council has developed a booklet which will be printed and delivered to all primary, junior and infant schools.  

The booklet includes a range of information from staying safe in the sun, to ideas on how to stay active during the summer holidays as well as support available for families through the Family Information Service. The information supports children, their parents and carers and also provides advice on how to help more vulnerable loved ones. 

You can view a digital copy of the booklet here. You may wish to include a link to it on your website or in your newsletter. 

As a trusted voice in our local communities, we would appreciate your support to help share these booklets with your pupils so they can take them home.  

You will receive 250 copies of the booklet, if you wish to receive more then please email newsteam@warwickshire.gov.uk with your request. 

An article has been included below for your newsletter to let families know about the booklet so they can expect to receive it or find it online. 

Article for parents 

Safe and well summer guide 

As schools close over the summer, families may be looking for things to do to keep children occupied, healthy and safe.  

Warwickshire County Council has created a Safe and well summer guide for children and their families. It includes advice about sun and water safety, ideas for things to do to stay active, support and guidance from the Family Information Service and some help to be ready to go back to school in September. 

Hard copies may be available through school, at libraries and Children and Family Centres, or you can view the digital version along with lots of other helpful information for families at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/wellness.  

NEW Headteacher Induction in Warwickshire – 2023/24

In Warwickshire, we run a successful Headteacher Induction Programme which we would like to invite any new Headteacher/Head of School to attend.  The course will be held at several face-to-face meetings throughout the year. 

A brief summary of the programme, which may be subject to change, is as follows:

Introduction to Warwickshire

Managing the Organisation (including WES, HR Business Partnership Services, HR Advisory Services, HR Service Centre and Payroll, Health & Safety, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Legal Services, Managing the Media, Governor Services, Emergency Planning, Closure Procedure, Newly Qualified Teachers and Early Careers Framework, ICT, Unions, Finance).

Vulnerable Learners (including Alternative Provisions, Ethical Leadership, Virtual School, Missing Children, SENDAR, STS, EMTAS, Educational Psychology Service, Wellbeing)

Safeguarding (including Early Help)

School Improvement (including Education Strategy, Specific School Support, System Leaders, Ofsted Complaints, Assessment and Moderation, Closing the Gap)

A Healthy School (including Staff and Headteacher Wellbeing)

The cost for the whole of the programme is £595.

The programme is being run and facilitated by Darren Barrow who has been a headteacher of three primary schools within Warwickshire and is now our School Improvement Lead & Sustainability Commissioner.

The first session is on 21 September 2023 at Eliot Park Innovation Centre 4, Barling Way, Nuneaton, CV10 7RH. 

Please see the attached sheet for the complete programme dates.

The course has had very positive feedback from previous delegates, proving invaluable in establishing links with key contacts, putting faces to names and networking with new colleagues. Its content is aimed at headteachers who are new to Warwickshire, those who are already Warwickshire staff but new to headship, colleagues who are transferring to another school within Warwickshire and newly appointed acting headteachers. This course will also be useful for newly appointed Heads of Schools. Delegates will receive updates on key topics and insights from experienced headteachers.

We strongly recommend that all new Headteachers, whether maintained or an academy school, participate in this Programme.  If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Please book your place as soon as possible via email to Fiona Mcguinness at fionamcguinness@warwickshire.gov.uk

Updates from Tudor Grange Academy Solihull

Early Career Teacher Registration:

Registration for early career framework and appropriate body services is now open. Please ensure your new ECTs are registered for September. If you would like to work with Tudor Grange Teaching School Hub, please follow this link for all registration details. 

For more information, please contact:

bstewart@solihull.tgacademy.org.uk or estallard@solihull.tgacademy.org.uk.

Early Career Teacher Assessments:

Please ensure that any outstanding progress reviews and assessments are submitted as soon as possible. Failure to submit these before the end of term could result in extended induction periods.

Free Scooter Training - Summer Holidays

"Help I'm Running a School Library' Training course.

The Unmorrow Curse by Jasmine Richards receives the Warwickshire Junior Book Award 2023 as voted by primary school students

The Unmorrow Curse by Jasmine Richards has won the Warwickshire Junior Book Award 2023 following a vote by Year 5 and 6 pupils in primary schools across the county.

Children invited to participate in the ‘Ready, Set, Read!’ Summer Reading Challenge at Warwickshire Libraries from Saturday 8 July 2023

This summer, children aged 4-11 can visit Warwickshire libraries to join a fictional superstar team and their marvellous mascots to get involved in a Summer Reading Challenge themed around the power of play, sport, games and physical activity. 

A popular annual activity in the library calendar, the Summer Reading Challenge encourages children to borrow and read six books, which can include eBook and eAudio formats, over the course of the summer holidays. 

Through taking part in the Challenge, with free materials from their local Warwickshire County Council Library and online via the Challenge website, children will be encouraged to keep their minds and bodies active over the summer break. The characters – brought to life by children’s author and illustrator Loretta Schauer – navigate a fictional summer obstacle course and track their reading as they go, rewarded by free incentives including stickers. 

Read more here.

Warwickshire Aspiring Headteachers Cohort 2 Graduation

NHS 75: a brief history

As you may be aware, 5 July 2023 marked the start of the 75^th year of the National Health Service. As part of NHS 75 celebrations, the Coventry and Warwickshire NHS have created a short ‘NHS History’ presentation for schools to use over the course of the next school year. The team hopes that this will be useful as part of your lesson planning if you would like to incorporate information about the NHS and will help demonstrate to pupils how the NHS has evolved since 1948.

Please use slideshow mode for the best viewing experience. The presentation moves on mouse clicks and you will be able to click through each slide at your own pace.

For more teaching resources, including learning plans, quizzes and competitions head to Step into the NHS.

If you would like to request a school talk from a local NHS representative please complete this form.

Language Development in Curriculum Workshop

This summer term’s EMTAS EAL Network meeting for Secondary schools was held at North Leamington School on Tuesday 6^th July.

Colleagues from five secondary schools participated in a workshop delivered by EAL specialist teacher Nikki Ajibade on using a curriculum planning grid developed by the Bell Foundation: Identifying Language Demands and Instructional Supports.

The Bell Foundation is a national charity which aims to overcome exclusion through language education by working with partners on innovation, research and training.  EMTAS specialist teachers are licensed Bell Foundation trainers delivering a range of Bell Foundation CPDs to Warwickshire schools. 

Secondary school colleagues Laura Caldas & Gaby Maxim [Rugby Free], Cheryl Bretherton [Southam College], Helen Shilton [North Leamington School], Tracey Beech [Nicholas Chamberlaine] and Rula Ghannam [Stratford High] worked through a framework for integrating curriculum content and language development.  The Bell Foundation designed these tools to support the language development for EAL learners at all stages of English language proficiency.  However, all those attending agreed that these approaches and tools would benefit all learners in schools.  Equipping teachers with the skills to plan their lessons through the lens of language development is essential to ensure all learners can effectively access curriculum content.  Once the teacher has identified the demands of the curriculum content, the next step is to identify the most appropriate instructional supports and approaches.  A focus on oracy is key to the Bell Foundation frameworks. The most effective type of instructional support and strategy e.g. talk/writing frames, use of graphic organisers, dictogloss etc. directly links to the identified discourse, syntax and vocabulary of the lesson content.

The day after our workshop, news media reported Labour’s plan to introduce a school oracy policy as central to their education strategy: Keir Starmer’s oracy policy for England’s schools welcomed – but some teachers wary of what it would mean in practice”  [The Guardian 7/7/2023]

For more information about the EMTAS Local Offer of funded staff CPDs for primary and secondary schools, please contact:  melindatwells@warwickshire.gov.uk

Submitted by: Nikki Ajibade – Joint Senior Lead for EMTAS/EAL

Warwickshire’s young people continue to stay in education, employment or training

A report from the Department for Education (DfE) on 6 July 2023, has shown that, once again, Warwickshire is one of the most successful Counties in the country for ensuring its 16- and 17-year-old residents (total population of this age range approx. 11,977) are either in education, employment or training.

The DfE require all local authorities to collect and report information about a young person’s post-16 activity on a monthly basis. Warwickshire’s numbers of young people either not in education, employment or training (NEET) are currently standing at less than both the regional (West Midlands) and national averages.

Warwickshire has 94.5% (approx. 11,318) of 16- and 17-year-olds participating in education and training. Warwickshire has a higher proportion of participation than that of England and the West Midlands. Of those, Warwickshire has 5.2% (approx. 622) of 16- and 17-year-olds participating in apprenticeships (this is an improvement from 4.3% in 2022).

Warwickshire has 1.7% (approximately 203) of 16- and 17-year-olds not in education employment or training (equal to proportion of young people in 2022 and down from 2% in 2021) and 1.6% (approximately 191) of young people whose post 16 education, employment or training activities were not known (this is an improvement from 1.7% in 2022 and 2% in 2021). This gives a combined score of 3.3% (a slight improvement from 3.4% in 2022 and 3.8% in 2021) which compares to the West Midlands and England averages of 5.2%. 

This marks a trend in which Warwickshire has been excelling in recent years and the county is now placed amongst the highest performing areas of England, based on comparable local authority areas (size/population etc). Since 2017, Warwickshire has consistently reported significant improvement in the reduction of the numbers of young people who were NEET, including those 16- and 17-year-olds whose activity is not known.

All local authorities are required to collect and report information on a young person’s post-16 activity, so that the government can publish a national reports and an overall scorecard.

The DfE can then monitor those 16- and 17-year-olds who are not taking part in education, employment and training, (known as NEETs).  The department also introduced a new headline measure in 2016 to include those young people whose activity is not known.

For more details please read here and find the latest publication from DfE here.  

July Safeguarding Update from the Education Safeguarding Team

The Education Safeguarding Team have sent out details of our final Safeguarding Bulletin for this academic year, so please check your head and DSL emails.